Capel: Blue chip talent doesn’t always lead to instant success

This time last year, high-flying forward Blake Griffin led Oklahoma to a 30-win season and an appearance in the round of eight in the NCAA tournament.

Despite Griffin’s departure for the NBA, preseason expectations continued to soar last fall for the Sooners, who were bringing into the fold a freshman class that included guard Tommy Mason-Griffin and forward Tiny Gallon.

Meanwhile, in Austin, the expectations for the new season surged into the stratosphere. Texas was welcoming highly-regarded freshmen Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton and J’Covan Brown.

The Longhorns would be ranked No. 2 in the nation in the preseason and then would climb to No. 1 after a 17-0 start.

Tonight, it’s safe to say that the luster for the Longhorns (22-7, 8-6 in the Big 12) and the Sooners (13-15, 4-10) has faded considerably leading into an ESPN “Big Monday” game at the Erwin Center.

OU coach Jeff Capel said the Sooners’ struggles indicate how accomplishments by star players in high school usually do not translate to instant success at the next level.

He said fans who put too much stock in recruiting hype often find themselves wallowing in disappointment in March.

“I think that’s one of the biggest mistakes that a lot of people make,” Capel said.

Carefully, Capel did not mention the Longhorns in his anaysis.

Rather, he said simply that fans underestimated how much the Sooners would miss Griffin, the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

“I don’t think people really appreciate what we lost,” Capel said. “I think a lot of the expectations that were placed upon us were based on the recruiting class … And I still think we had a really good recruiting class.”

At the same time, Capel pointed out that veteran players lead the best teams in the Big 12 today. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich at Kansas. Denis Clemente and Frank Pullen at Kansas State. Donald Sloan and Brian Davis at Texas A&M.

“Those teams in the upper part (of the standings), they’re not depending on freshmen to kind of carry the load for them, where we are,” Capel said. “Again, I think the expectations, from all of us — myself included — were probably too great, especially as tough as our league is.”